Château de Bonnezeaux Current Releases

Château de Bonnezeaux current releases

La Montagne Cuvee Salve Regina

2016 is the first release from Château de Bonnezeaux in over thirty years. It was made from two Chenin Blanc vineyards totaling 2 hectares: a 70 year old vineyard in Bonnezaux and a 40 year old vineyard in the Coteaux du Lyon. The winemaker, Guyonne Saclier de la Bâtie, worked with Mark Angeli at La Ferme de la Sansonnière and his influence is evident in her work. (She is the first to point out that she is a long way from making a wine at the level of Mark's.)

Guyonne has been farming organically since restarting work on the Château's holdings and like Mark, all of her Chenin vines are trained using gobelet. Both her vineyard in Bonnezaux and in the Coteaux du Lyon have schistous and clay-based soils .

The reason behind the wine's name is two-fold. Guyonne and her family are Catholic. Since 2016 was a jubilee year, they wanted to dedicate their first vintage to the Virgin Mary with a special invocation. The name is also intended as a nod to Mark Angeli and a sign of their gratitude to him for all of his help. Mark is Corsican and Corsica's unofficial national anthem is Salve Regina.

The wine was fermented with natural yeast and aged in one 400-liter barrel and two 225-liter barrels.